Beschreibung:

OTTENS, REINER 1698-1750 and JOSUA 1704-1765. [Composite Atlas.] Atlas van vyregezogte Landkaarten. Amsterdam, c. 1730.
Large folio (630 x 395 mm). 85 engraved maps and charts of all parts of the world, mostly double-page or folding, including five wall-maps in sheets, by various 17th- and 18th-century mapmakers (see notes) ALL MAGNIFICENTLY FULLY COLORED AND HEIGHTENED IN GOLD IN A FINE CONTEMPORARY HAND including: 4 world maps and hemispheres, 12 maps of the Americas; 49 maps of Europe, 19 Asia and 5 Africa, 4 engraved allegorical frontispieces Europa, Asia, Africa and America, as sectional titles originally published in the Blaeu Atlas Major (1662), all but the first bearing the Ottens imprint and finely colored in a contemporary hand, 4 astronomical plates by or after C. Allard, J. G. Doppelmaier and N. de Fer, two sheets (joined, partly uncut) of armorial playing cards by Claude Oronce Fine (1660, the Caspar Specht issue of c. 1710) titled in manuscript, two distance tables also by Specht, one naval plate and one plate showing naval ensigns both by Covens and Mortier, preceded by engraved general title by J. van Munnikhuysen after L. Webbers bearing the Ottens imprint, additional engraved title to the Covens and Mortier Atlas Novus (c. 1730) by Romein de Hooghe, printed title in red and black to the Dutch text of Sanson's Inieidinge tot de Geografie followed by 20 leaves of printed text, double-page manuscript index listing 94 subjects (including titles and index) and a full-page manuscript copy of the poem Op het Toonneel des Aerdryx, of te Nieuwe Atlas by Joost van den Vondel (1587-1679) both neatly written in ink. Contemporary Dutch red morocco, gilt-paneled, gilt edges, vellum spine label ink lettered: "Atlas van Vytegezogte Landkaarten" some wear to joints and edges. The titles cut round and mounted, the mapsheets and printed text mostly inlaid to match the overall size, a few folds a little with minor loss of engraved surface, some faint staining, some discoloration to versos.
Provenance: "A Collector Resident Abroad" (his sale, Sotheby's London, 1 February 1984, lot 41); by descent to the present owner.
The Ottens Family
The Ottens brothers are best known for their atlases assembled to order. The founder of the company was Joachim Ottens (1663-1719) a copper engraver and a print- and map-seller in Amsterdam. He was a member of the art- and print-sellers guild since 1710. After his death in 1719, his widow and sons continued the business which reached its apex under the leadership of the sons Reinier and Hosua Ottens. At the time Amsterdam was the center of commercial cartography and illumination.
Composite Atlas
Composite Atlases are custom assembled atlases. A wealthy merchant or royalty could select the desired maps from a large catalogue of maps by various map makers including maps by Ottens and Covens and Mortier and have them bound to his/her taste. Ottens assembled atlases in up to 15 volumes, the most famous example is in the Teyler museum in Haarlem Netherlands. The present atlas comprises maps by various publishers including Ottens, and Covens and Mortier. Subjects include 4 world maps and hemispheres, 12 maps of the America; 49 maps of Europe, 19 Asia and 5 Africa, 4 engraved allegorical frontispieces Europa, Asia, Africa and America, as sectional titles originally published in the Blaeu Atlas Major. The atlas was assembled at the pinnacle of Dutch map making and many of the maps represent the most up to date cartographic details.
Magnificent coloring
The present example is one of the finest, the coloring magnificently executed and highlighted in gilt, paying amazing attention to the details of the engraved titles and the cartouches of the maps. It required an illuminator who was extremely skilled in the precise use of gold leaf in the cartouches, in illuminating selected cities or highlighting some longitude marks. Our example is a single volume atlas illuminated with the same attention to detail and depth as the most famous examples. Apart from this fully colored atlas other examples of lesser quality are known. The coloring was done on a sliding scale, with different levels of perfection, or they were partially colored with the cartouche left uncolored.
Rarity
A very small number of these composite atlases survived in institutions. Atlases offered on the market were many times broken and the maps were sold individually. This is a very rare example of Ottens's composite atlas with magnificent contemporary hand coloring, one of the finest to come to market.
CONTENTS
1 Register van deze Atlas, manuscript contents list numbered 1-94
2 Atlas engraved general title by Munnikhuysen; R. and J. Ottens
3 Atlas Novus, engraved general title by de Hooghe; Covens and Mortier
4 Inleidinge tot de Geographie, printed title and 38 pp. text; de L'ISLE, Guillaume and Guillaume Sanson, Covens and Mortier
5 Op het Toonneel des Aerdryx ofte Nieuwe Atlas; J.v. Vondel, manuscript
WORLD
6 Nova totius terrarum orbis geographica ac hydrographica tabula, world map on Mercator's projection (Pieter van den Keere 1608, reduced from his 12-sheet map of the same year, reissued by Jansson 1621 and included in the Atlantis Maioris Appendix in 1630. This is the Janssonius Waesberge-Moses Pitt edition as revised in London, 1680, see: Shirley 264 and 504.
7 Planisphaerium Terrestre sive Terrarum Orbis [title repeated in Dutch], world map in twin hemispheres; Carel Allard, with Covens and Mortier's imprint. Shirley 578
8 Hemisphere Septentrional, northern hemisphere; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
9 Hemisphere Meridional, southern hemisphere (G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint)
EUROPE
10 Europa, allegorical title from the Blaeu Altas Major [1662]
11 Les Armories des Princes de l'Europe, (manuscript title and register) 52 numbered, mounted playing cards, probably by Caspar Specht, Utrecht, c. 1700, (see: next plate)
12 Historische en Geographische Tafel om te leren een kort begrip vande Landen en Staten in Europa, armorial table; C. Specht
13 Accuratissima Europae tabula; Carel Allard, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
14 La Scandie, ou les Trois Royaumes du Nord; Nicolaas Visscher's widow, with Pieter Schenk's imprint
15 Carte des Courones du Nord [... and Second Carte], Scandinavia in two sheets, north and south; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
16 Regni Norvegia; Frederick de Wit
17 Sueciae Magnae, the Swedish empire; Gerard and Leonard Valk
18 Carte du Royaume de Danemarc; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
19 Regnorum Magnae Britanniae, sive Angliae Scotiae nec non Hiberniae; C. Allard
20 Carte des Royaumes d'Angleterre d'Ecosse et d'Irlande, folding map in two sheets, joined; Charles Inselin, published Hubert Jaillot, 1715 (minor loss to fold affecting image)
21 Regni Angliae et Walliae Principatus Tabula; C. Allard, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
22 Tractus Regni Angliae Septentrion., northern England, F. de Wit with Covens and Mortier's imprint
23 Occidentalior Regni Angliae Districtus, western England and Wales; F. de Wit with Covens and Mortier's imprint
24 Orientalior Districtus Regni Angliae, East Anglia and the Southeast; F. de Wit with Covens and Mortier's imprint
25 Novissima Regni Scotiae; C. Allard, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
26 Hyberniae Regni; [C. Allard], with Covens and Mortier's imprint
27 Tafel vande XVII Nederlandze Provincien, armorial table of the Seventeen Provinces; C. Specht, with Reiner and Josua Ottens's imprint
28 XVII Provincesde Pays-Bas, Belgium and the Netherlands [C. Allard], reissued by H. Jaillot with new Latin title, Covens and Mortier's imprint
29 Belgium Foederatum, modern Netherlands; F. de Wit with Covens and Mortier's imprint
30 Carte des Pays-Bas Catholiques, modern Belgium, engraved by J. van Lugtenburg; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
31 Kort Begryp van Duytsland, de drie Ryx Collegien, in hunne Wapens en Zittingen, Kreits Verdelingen, en Aantekeningen, armorial table of the German Empire; C. Specht, with R. and J. Ottens's imprint
32 Germania Descriptio, the whole of the German Empire; F. de Wit with Covens and Mortier's imprint
33 L'Empire d'Allemagne; two sheets joined, Nicolas Sanson and Hubert Jaillot, with Covens and Mortier's imprint)
34 Germaniae L'Empire d'Allemagne, WALLMAP of the German Empire; in four sheets joined as two, J. Covens and C. Mortier, after N. Sanson, G. de l'Isle, H. Jaillot and N. de Fer. Total dimensions 1030 mm. by 1195 mm.
35 Fluviorum Rheni Mosae Mosellae Moeni Neccaris, the Rhine valley, with 18 border vignette plans of Landau, Freiburg, Mainz, Cologne, Namur, Basel, Fort Louis Philipsbourg, Brisach, Strassburg, Coblenz, Mont Royal, Hüningen, Trier, Saarlouis, Luxembourg, Maastricht and Bonn; two sheets, joined, F. de Wit Covens and Mortier's imprint
36 Nieuwe Caarte van Vrankryk, France; [C. Specht] after Nicholas de Fer, with R. and J. Ottens's imprint
37 La France; large folding map in two sheets, joined, C. Inselin, with the imprint of Bernard Jean Hyacinthe Jaillot, son of Hubert, 1713. Total dimensions 603 mm. by 930 mm.
38 Galliae Regnum in omnes suas Provincias accuraté divisium, WALLMAP of France in four sheets joined as two, N. Sanson and H. Jaillot, with the Covens and Mortier imprint. Total dimensions 1030 mm. by 1195 mm.
39 Mare Mediterraneum, large folding map in two sheets, joined, G. and L. Valk
40 Novissima et Accuratissima Regnorum Hispaniae et Portugalliae, the Iberian peninsula; F. de Wit with Covens and Mortier's imprint
41 L'Espagne, folding map in two sheets, joined, reduced from the large four-sheet wall-map (see number 42), engraved by J. van Lugtenburg; N. Sanson, published by Covens and Mortier. Total dimensions 580 mm. by 895 mm.
42 Théâtre de la Guerre en Espagne et en Portugal, WALLMAP of the Iberian peninsula; in four sheets joined as two J. Covens and C. Mortier [after N. Sanson]. Total dimensions 960 mm. by 1190 mm.
43 Novissima Regnorum Portugalliae et Algarbiae Descriptio; F. de Wit with Covens and Mortier's imprint
44 L'Italie, engraved by B. Ruyter; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
45 L'Italie, folding map in two sheets, joined N. Sanson and H. Jaillot, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
46 Partie Orientale de l'Italie qui comprend les Royaumes de Naples et de Sicilie &C:, WALLMAP in four sheets joined as two; J. Covens and C. Mortier, after N. Sanson. Total dimensions 926 mm. by 1145 mm.
47 la Suisse Divisée en ses Treze Cantons, Ses Alliez & ses Sujets; H. Jaillot, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
48 Nova Helvetiae Tabula Geographica, WALLMAP in four sheets joined as two; Johann Jakob Scheuchzer [1712], the Pieter Schenk issue of [1716], the map area surrounded by 17 vignette illustrations of natural phenomena and views, each numbered and keyed. Total dimensions 904 mm. by 1020 mm.
49 La Pologne; G. de l'Isle, with Schenk, 1734 imprint
50 Reipublicae et Status Generalis Poloniae; two sheets joined, R. and J. Ottens
51 Regni Prussiae et Prussiae Poloniae; F. de Wit with Covens and Mortier's imprint
52 Imperii Russici sive Moscoviae; F. de Wit with Covens and Mortier's imprint
53 Carte Nouvelle de Tout l'Empire de la Grande Russie; R. and J. Ottens
54 Carte de Moscovie [... and Partie Meridionale de Moscovie], western Russia, north and south, two sheets joined; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
55 Le Royaume de Hongrie, folding map in two sheets, joined; N. Sanson, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
56 Le Cours du Danube, folding map in three sheets, joined, with lower border vignettes of Varadin, Canise, Temeswar, Sigeth, Belgrade, Constantinople; N. Sanson after V. M. Coronelli, with Pieter Mortier's imprint
57 Estate de l'Empire des Turqs en Europe; H. Jaillot, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
58 Carte de la Grece; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
59 Peloponnesi que hodie Morea; Sanson, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
ASIA
60 Asia, allegorical title from the Blaeu Atlas Major [1662]; R. and J. Ottens
61 L'Asie; G. de l' Istle from Covens and Mortier's imprint
62 L'Empire des Turcs...; N. de Fer, Paris, c. 1700
63 Magni Turcarum Domini Imperium, folding map in two sheets; N. Visscher, with P. Schenk's imprint
64 Nouvelle Carte de la Mer Noire et du Canal de Constantinople; N. Visscher, with the imprint of Hendrik de Leth
65 Carte de la Tartarie; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
66 Natolia Asia Minor; P. de la Rue, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
67 Assyria Vetus; P. de la Rue, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
68 Iudaea seu Terra Sancta N. Sanson, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
69 Carte de Perse; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
70 Regnum Persicum Imperium Turcicum in Asia; folding map, two sheets joined, R. and J. Ottens
71 Carte des Pays Voisins de la Mer Caspienne; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
72 Magni Mogolis Imperium; [W. and J. Blaeu (1638), with a later cartouche, scale and imprint of F. de Wit the Covens and Mortier issue]
73 Imperii Sinarum nova description; J. van Loon published by J. Jansson in 1658, the G. Valk and P. Schenk issue of [1700]
74 Carte Nouvelle de la Grande Tartarie... Troisième Partie de l'Asie... la Chine, les Isles de Borneo, et Philippines, &c., folding map in two sheets, joined N. Sanson, Covens and Mortier imprint
75 Nova et Accurata Iaponiae terrae Esonis, Japan, Korea and Company's Land; J. Jansson [1659], the P. Schenk and G. Valk issue of [1700],
76 Carte des Indes et de la Chine; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
77 Carte des Côtes de Malabar et de Coromandel; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
78 Parte d'Asie ou sont les Isles de Zocotra, de l'Amirante... les Isles d'Andemaon, Ceylan, les Maldives, folding chart in two sheets joined; P. Mortier
79 Le Royaume de Siam, folding map in two sheets joined; P. Mortier
AFRICA
80 Africa, allegorical title from the Blaeu Atlas Major [1662] with R. and J. Ottens's imprint
81 L'Afrique; G. de l'Isle, the 1700 version, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
82 Carte de la Barbarie de la Nigritie et de la Guinée; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
83 Carte de l'Egypte de la Nubie de l'Abissinie; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
84 Carte du Congo et du Pays de Caffres; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
AMERICA
85 America, allegorical title from the Blaeu Atlas Major [1662], engraved by J. Falck, with R. and J. Ottens's imprint
86 Recentissima Novi Orbis sive Americae Septentrionalis et Meridionalis tabula; C. Allard, engraved by G. van Gouwen, with Covens and Mortier's imprint. McLaughlin 132; Tooley 65.
87 L'Amerique Septentrionale, North America; G. de l'Isle [1700], with Covens and Mortier's imprint. See Tooley 33; Wheat, Transmississippi 79
88 L'Amerique Meridionale, South America; G. de l'Isle [1700], with Covens and Mortier's imprint, see: Tooley 68
89 Carte du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France; G. de l'Isle [1703], with Covens and Mortier's imprint, see: Tooley 39
90 Carte du Mexique et de la Floride; G. de l'Isle [1703], re-engraved by J. Stemmers, 1722, with Covens and Mortier's imprint, see: Tooley 51
91 Carte de la Louisiane et du Cours du Mississipi; G. de l'Isle [1718], with Covens and Mortier's imprint, see: Tooley 43, The first map to mark and name the settlements in Texas, "one of the most important mother maps of the North American continent", see: Cumming The Southeast in Early Maps, 170
92 Carte de la Terre Ferme du Perou, du Bresil et du pays des Amazones; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
93 Carte du Paraguay du Chili; G. de l'Isle, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
94 Archipelague du Mexique ou sont les Isles de Cuba, Espagnole, Iamaïque, &c., folding map in two sheets, joined, with insets showing Vera Cruz, Havana, Porto Bello, Darien, and a large vignette illustration showing Europeans receiving tribute from native tribes; Covens and Mortier. Total dimensions 576 mm. by 1005 mm.
95 Carte Nouvelle de la Mer du Sud, large folding map of the Americas and the Pacific showing the routes of explorers since Columbus with, as insets, views of Fort au Cap de Bonne Esperance; La Ville de Mexico; Moulin à sucre; Istme de Panama ou de Darien; Baye de Porto Bello; added in the second state: Vera Cruz, Baye de Rio Janeiro, la Havane. De Leth's spectacular map is considerably rarer than its Châtelain (1719) model. Total dimensions 596 mm. and 900 mm. See McLaughlin 220; Tooley, 94.
96 Nieuwe Wassende Graaden Paskaart Vertoonende alle de bekende Zeekusten en Landen op den geheelen Aard boodem of Werelt, large folding chart of the World on Mercator's projection, in two sheets joined; Gerard van Keulen, from editions of the Zee-fakkel, see: Koeman IV, Keu [199]. Total dimensions 595 mm. by 1000 mm.
CELESTIAL
97 Planisphaerii Coelestis Hemisphaerium septentrionali, northern celestial hemisphere for the epoch 1700, C. Allard, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
98 Planisphaerii Coelestis Hemisphaerium meridionale, southern celestial hemisphere for the epoch 1700; C. Allard, with Covens and Mortier's imprint
99 La Sphere Artificielle ou Armilaire oblique; N. de Fer 1716
100 Sphaerium Artificialium typica Repraesentatio, plate showing an armillary sphere, terrestial and celestial globes; [J. G. Doppelmaier, published by Covens and Mortier?]
SHIPS AND FLAGS
101 Niuewe Tafel voor alle Lief-hebbers en Zeevaarende Persoonen vertoonende een Oorloghs-Schip, illustration and cross-section of a 96-gun warship, with 13 vignettes; [Cornelis Danckaerts], with Covens and Mortier's imprint, found also in some editions of van Keulen atlases
102 Nieuwe Tafel van al de zee Vaarende Vlagge des Weerelts, plate showing 139 naval ensigns and a colour key [C. Danckaerts], with Covens and Mortier's imprint
REFERENCES
Koeman, Collections, pp. 55-75; and Atlantes Neerlandici III, pp. 85-93; McLaughlin California as an Island; See Reeuwijk, Van atlas tot routeplanner, Ottens' atlas in Teylers Museum; See Tooley The Mapping of America.